One day after a multi-alarm fire left an abandoned storage facility on William Hooke Lane in ruins, authorities are tight-lipped as to the cause.
On Tuesday, arson investigators from a number of agencies roamed the charred and fractured exoskeleton of the former Stone Station facility, located at an industrial site off Arlington Street.
While investigators studied the burnt ruins and talked to neighbors in search of clues, Taunton Deputy Fire Chief Ron Nastri would not comment as to what caused the fire or the possibility of arson.
Stone Station, which opened its doors in the Silver City in June 2001, was an importer and distributor of granite and
marble stone products that originated from quarries in China.
The company was part of an international Singapore-based consortium called Hua Tong Group, one of the largest exporters of granite into the United States. Its Taunton facility stocked and custom-ordered granite medallions and listellos, pavers,
marble vases, planters, statues, and granite birdbaths.
It has been over a year since the Stone Station company moved out of the city and into its Oklahoma facility.
However, the company retained ownership of the abandoned William Hooke Lane building and continued to store merchandise there.
Henry Vargas, property manager of the building who was hired by Stone Station to keep an eye on the lot, said Monday he believes that the fire may have been intentionally set.
Vargas claimed there had been several thefts from the building in recent weeks, totaling $400,000, and that those thefts had been reported to police.
Dick Shafer, director of the city’s Office of Economic and Community Development, said Vargas told him last week of his plan to re-post “No Trespassing” signs that were torn down at the entrance to Stone Station.
Shafer also said he was aware that someone had cut the locks on the front gate months ago.
He and at least one city councilor said it had become all but common knowledge that thieves in recent months had been driving trucks onto the property and stealing stone merchandise left inside the building.
Taunton Police Chief Raymond O’Berg Tuesday said his department had no record of complaints made of suspicious activity at the industrial site during past weeks and months.
“I hadn’t heard anything about (thefts), but I wouldn’t doubt it,” said a curious Cohannet Street resident, who walked onto the scene Tuesday to get a glimpse of the aftermath. “The building had no power, no electricity, no heat. How else would a fire start? It’s suspicious.”
Alan Skinner, who has lived in his Arlington Street home for the past six years, said he never witnessed any “funny business” going at the vacant Stone Station property across the street.
Shafer said that last summer Lin Lim, who was formerly known as president of Stone Station’s Taunton facility, told him the company was considering reopening the site as a distribution center, but an anticipated October opening never came to pass.
Shafer said he has never had a phone number for either Lim or Stone Station in Oklahoma, which is not listed. As a result, he said, Vargas has been his only contact, acting as a go-between of sorts.
Stone Station closed its Taunton facility in 2007. Earlier in the year it was criticized, and Shafer questioned, during a City Council meeting for its having left the city after enjoying six years of a Tax Increment Financing property-tax break.
While the thick black smoke finally thinned by early Tuesday morning, nearby Arlington Street residents were left with a less-than-picturesque view of the inferno’s destructive aftermath.
Skinner dragged his finger across the hood of his white pickup truck, which was parked in his driveway, to reveal a layer of black soot that dusted his property after the building collapsed.
Though the fire posed no immediate threat to the public, a few over-eager and defiant onlookers posed a problem for firefighters who were trying to battle the blaze.
Taunton teens Robert Nunes, 19, and Joseph Campos, 17, and James Rego, of Berkley, were arrested and charged with failure to disperse from the scene of the fire.
“There were young kids in the crowd who were climbing trees and getting in the way,” Nastri said. “They were told to move and they wouldn’t, so they were arrested as they should have been.”
 |  |  |
 | | Marble | MARBLE: CHARACTERISTICS
This standard includes general information on the characteristics
and common uses of marble and identifies typical problems
associated with the material.
INTRODUCTION
Marble is an extremely hard, metamorphic stone composed of calcite
(CaCO3). It is formed as a result of the recrystallization of
limestone under the intense pressure and heat of geologic
processes. The effect of this process is the creation of a stone
with a very tight crystalline structure and small but definite
porosity. Because of its structure, marble can take a very high
polish and is a very popular decorative stone for architectural and
sculptural uses. The limited porosity of marble, especially
polished marble, makes it less vulnerable to the leaching effects
of water. Calcium carbonate, however, of which marble is composed,
is highly susceptible to attack by acidic agents. Marble is
readily dissolved by acids, even very dilute acids, however the
actual results of acidic exposure will vary with the nature of the
acid. Chlorides, nitrates, sulfates and other chemical compounds
react differently with marble and produce various by-products,
which have a wide range of solubility and impact on the durability
of marble. For this reason, it is always important to determine
the exact type of pollutants causing marble deterioration.
Marble itself can be of two types, one composed of calcite and the
other of dolomite. Dolomitic marble is much more resistant to acid
attack than calcite marble. The color of marble ranges from the
brilliant white of calcite to black, including blue-gray, red,
yellow and green, depending upon the mineral composition.
TYPICAL USES
Marble has many decorative and structural uses. It is used for
outdoor sculpture as well as for sculpture bases; in architecture
it is used in exterior walls and veneers, flooring, decorative
features, stairways and walkways. The way in which the stone is
used may be a factor in limiting or controlling the severity of
exposure. The use or function of the marble may also affect the
feasibility of applying certain treatments, but type of use is not
the primary factor in the major types of deterioration and damage
to which marble is susceptible. | |  |
 |  |  |
Linear Mode
